Karachi: The Jamaat-i-Islami's (JI) sit-in outside the Sindh Governor House entered its fifth day on Thursday, with representatives and religious leaders of the Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities joining the protest and expressing solidarity with the party's demands.
Addressing a press conference at the protest camp earlier in the day, JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar termed the government's Rs32 per litre reduction in diesel prices insufficient and demanded the abolition of the petroleum levy and other taxes on fuel.
'Our clear and unequivocal demand is that the petroleum levy be abolished and the price of petrol be fixed at Rs225 per litre for three years, ' he said.
He also called for the cancellation of 'anti-people' agreements with independent power producers (IPPs), an end to billions of rupees in capacity payments and the provision of cheaper electricity to consumers.
The JI leader urged people belonging to all political and religious parties to join the protest, saying the issue of petrol prices affected everyone.
Referring to the party's previous 14-day protest against IPPs, he said that the campaign had resulted in a saving of Rs8. 64 per unit for residential consumers and Rs16. 34 per unit for commercial consumers. He said agreements with five IPPs had been terminated, while negotiations had been reopened with 22 others, resulting in an alleged benefit of Rs3. 4 trillion to the national exchequer.
Monem Zafar said that ordinary citizens were effectively paying Rs130 per litre in petroleum levy and other taxes on fuel. He also criticised government spending, saying that Rs380 billion worth of free petrol and Rs280 billion worth of free electricity had been provided to the government and bureaucracy during the previous year.
He said the government collected Rs1. 566 trillion from the petroleum levy last year, exceeding its target by Rs100bn.
He said there were around 30 million motorcycles across Pakistan and more than 4. 2m in Karachi, most of them used by ordinary people, workers, young people and students rather than landlords or feudal families.
Even if only 20m motorcycles were taken into account, he said, the lower-income segment would be contributing around Rs912bn annually through the levy.
Later in the evening, a large number of members of minority communities also joined the fifth day of the sit-in. Those present included Bishop Sadiq Daniel, Pastor Joseph Daniel, JI Karachi Minority Wing president Younis Sohan, Parvez Barkat, Kishore Kumar, Parvez William, Sajjan and Radha Ji.
Speaking on the occasion, Bishop Sadiq Daniel said inflation had made life extremely difficult for ordinary people and described the protest against the petroleum levy as a struggle concerning the entire country rather than any particular community.
'We stand with the Jamaat-i-Islami in this struggle and will participate in the joint effort, ' he said.
Monem Zafar also spoke on the occasion. He said the difficulties caused by the petroleum levy affected everyone. 'The pain of those affected by the petroleum levy is our pain, ' he said, adding that the protesters would not leave until the levy was abolished.
He added that JI offices remained open round the clock for members of minority communities.
JI Karachi deputy chief Muslim Parvez said the party had been the first to establish a minority wing and wanted to ensure representation for minorities at every level.
Younis Sohan thanked members of the minority communities for participating in the protest and said the petroleum levy could be substantially reduced if the government ended fuel allowances and protocols for officials.
The JI Minority Wing also presented Sindhi ajraks and caps to Bishop Sadiq Daniel, Pastor Joseph Daniel, Monem Zafar and Muslim Parvez.